“A silent hog is a toothless dog.”
Scooters, Vespas, mo-peds – battery up; no one cares, least of all fertile women. But the purpose of a motorcycle is to be showy and obnoxious – to be showy by being obnoxious. Remove the obnoxophone and you have removed the marketing appeal.
These are the purposes of a motorcycle in America:
- To be obnoxious at start-up and shut-down, especially when everyone else is sleeping.
- To be obnoxious at stoplights.
- To be obnoxious in traffic.
In fact, this is all about Incandescent need – and the excessive displays necessary to catch the attention of preoccupied strangers ensconced in cars and enmired in traffic. But how are you going to distract them with your presence without the boom-boom-boom of that VRROOM-VRROOM-VRROOM?
Like NASCAR and the NFL, is the motorcycle business trying to replace its customer base? Seems equally wise to me: Hating the people who love you will not inspire the love of people who hate you. But, as with corporate weenies everywhere, there is an incandescent need even more important than VRROOM-VRROOM-VRROOM. Who cares if it kills the business?
In other news:
The Federalist: Of All The Third-World Cities I’ve Lived In, Baltimore Was The Worst.
WKBN.com: Vans operating as illegal Airbnbs in NYC impounded by NYC Sheriff’s Office.
Thomas Lifson: Schadenfreude to start the week: Biden and the Dems’ plans are collapsing.
Christopher Rufo: The White Backlash That Wasn’t: Opposition to critical race theory is broad and bipartisan.
